Supermarket operator Rob Rowe plans to open a fifth area Rowe's IGA Supermarket, choosing a former Food Lion in West Jacksonville at 8299 W. Beaver St.
Rowe said Wednesday the store will open Aug. 28 "if all goes as planned."
Commodore Realty Inc. site information for the Marietta Square shopping center at the address shows Rowe's IGA in 35,500 square feet in a former Food Lion at the Beaver Street and Bulls Bay Highway site.
Commodore Realty is based in Key Biscayne.
Also, the City issued two sign permits Monday for Rowe's IGA at the address, in space 21.
Rowe estimated a $1.2 million investment in opening the store, including inventory, painting, cleaning and making sure the equipment was in order.
Rowe operates four Rowe's IGA Supermarkets in the area – at 5435 Blanding Blvd., in West Jacksonville; at 6765 Dunn Ave. in Northwest Jacksonville; at 8595 Beach Blvd. in South Jacksonville; and at 1670 Wells Road in Orange Park.
He told the Daily Record in June 2012, as he opened the Dunn Avenue store, that he went shopping for Food Lion sites after the supermarket chain closed its remaining 20 area grocery stores earlier that year.
With two Rowe's Supermarkets operating at the time, Rowe settled on two of the newly closed Food Lions — the Dunn Avenue store, at New Kings Road, and the Orange Park store along Wells Road, which opened last fall.
He expected there would be more. Rowe said at the time that he would "work on whatever makes sense."
Rowe, who turned 51 on June 27, has decades of corporate experience with the Albertsons and Winn-Dixie chains and first ventured into operating Rowe's Supermarkets eight years ago.
He launched his business with the 2005 acquisition of seven closed Albertsons stores, selling one site and opening six Rowe's Supermarkets.
As we reported in June 2012, it wasn't easy. Rowe faced grand-opening challenges, such as with the computerized cash-register system. He learned from the experience.
"Nothing is easy. If it was, everybody would do it," he said then.
One by one, he sold five of the stores, retaining the one at Blanding Boulevard and 103rd Street. He works with the IGA system, a brand for independent grocery chains.
Three years ago, he opened a second Rowe's IGA at a former Food Lion at Beach and Southside boulevards.
Then came the opportunity for the Dunn Avenue store.
Rowe created separate limited liability companies to own each store.
His chain now includes one former Albertsons and four former Food Lions.
Rowe said there are several more deals he would like to do.
"We are talking to people all the time. It is just whether we can make those deals work," he said.
"Deals are hard to do," Rowe said. "It has to be a win-win for the landlord and for me."
Rowe is considering a couple more former Food Lion sites and a few other spaces, including the possibility of tearing down a building and redeveloping a site.
"You have to make sure that you are going to be successful long-term," he said. "We could grow more, but we are doing it smart."
Rowe said he had 330 employees and that should grow by 65-70 when the Marietta Square store opens.
Asked if he wanted to build the chain and sell it, Rowe said he intended to "operate it for now for sure."
Rowe said the economy, which has been recovering from what is called the Great Recession, continues to affect his customers.
"It's probably a little bit better than it has been in the past," he said. "Things are tough for everybody."
Rowe said "unknown factors" remain.
"Everybody is doing more with less. Everybody is trying to do the best they can with what they've got," he said.
Rowe said the Aug. 28 opening will follow several weeks of work that includes inventory stocking, equipment repairs, tile work, painting, food-case and refrigeration checks and cleaning.
"It'll be very nice" he said.
Academy signs
The City OK'd four signs for Academy Sports + Outdoors at the Southside Square shopping center.
Taylor Sign & Design Inc. is the contractor for the $9,500 project, comprising a ground sign and three wall signs at 9041 Southside Blvd.
Academy Sports + Outdoors renovated the space vacated by Circuit City and Linens 'n Things. T.D. Farrell Construction Inc. was the contractor for the $1.01 million project to create the 78,150-square-foot store.
$1.8M Nordstrom Rack build-out OK'd
The City approved the interior build-out for the Nordstrom Rack store in The Markets at Town Center. IBEX Construction is the contractor for the $1.8 million project at 4924 Big Island Drive.
The Markets at Town Center is next to St. Johns Town Center.
The building permit describes the tenant improvements as new finishes, non-structural partitions, case work for a retail sales floor, personnel offices, stock storage and associated electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems.
In March, the City approved the permit for James C. Hudson Jr. Construction Co. to build the 34,934-square-foot Nordstrom Rack shell building at a project cost of $1.5 million.
The store is expected to open by late fall.
Nordstrom Rack is the off-price retail division of Nordstrom Inc. and reports that it carries on-trend merchandise from Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom.com at 50 to 60 percent off original Nordstrom prices.
Seattle-based Nordstrom plans to open a full-line store at St. Johns Town Center in fall 2014.
JU health sciences building approved
The City approved construction Wednesday for the two-story, 30,000-square-foot College of Health Sciences building at Jacksonville University.
Perry-McCall Construction Inc. is the contractor for the $5.9 million project on the JU campus at 2800 University Blvd. N.
As the Daily Record reported in June, JU applied for the building permit to construct the building, and plans showed a two-story, 29,800-square-foot building. Dasher Hurst Architecture is the architect.
The building is the centerpiece of the $85 million ASPIRE campaign to raise funds for campus improvements. The new building should open in August 2014 and is part of a larger, $20 million plan to expand the College of Health Sciences.
Chipotle, Firehouse underway at River City Marketplace
The City OK'd tenant build-out for Chipotle Mexican Grill and Firehouse Subs in the Pointe Place center at 790 Skymarks Drive in North Jacksonville at River City Marketplace.
Frontier Building is the contractor for Chipotle at a project cost of $337,610.
Farris Construction Inc. is the contractor for Firehouse Subs at a project cost of $130,000.
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